Tennant and Keisse take Team Pedalsure to the top in the first round of the Revolution Championship 2015/16 in Manchester.

Revolution 53

Andrew Tennant and Iljo Keisse consistently rode well in the five Race Events taking Team Pedalsure to the top of the Championship League after the first full round of the 2015-16 Winter Season.

There was thrilling four-way sprint across the line of the UCI Scratch Race for Tennant beating Wiggins, Wood and Viviani. Mark Stewart had set off early, but was soon caught by Elia Viviani. Approaching the final couple of corners Tennant, the Wiggins and Wood all took the longer path around the track, but it was Tennant that got there first. This provided the only victory for Team Pedalsure on the day. Keisse’s strong second place in the UCI Points Race and the teams second placement in the Revolution one-kilometre Madison Time Trial added valuable points to their tally.

Last years Champions Maloja Pushbikers pushed all the way, winning the 1km Madison Time Trial in the final heat, after Team Pedalsure set the initial 56.875 time that looked unbeatable on the night. Most of the other teams challenged with around the 58s time, but Maloja set the only sub 56s time with a 55.907, they are determined to beat Oli Wood and Ed Clancy’s record of 54.537 this season by all accounts.

HOY Future Star Events

The HOY future Star Championship got off to a great start for Rhys Britton and Jessica Roberts whom both lead into round three at the Lee Valley Velodrome in early November.

Rhys pulled the triple off, winning the Scratch, Points and Six-Lap Dash, giving him a clear lead over Fred Wright for the next round.

Roberts won both the Points and the Six-Lap Dash, winning the bunch sprint in the Scratch Race after a gutsy solo victory by Maddie Gammons (Maloja Pushbikers).

Elite Women’s Endurance Events

Matrix Fitness’s Laura Trott took a double win in the Elite Women’s UCI Events winning both the Points and Elimination Races.

Team USN’s Emily Nelson was the only rider to lap the field, to win the UCI Scratch Race.

Women’s Sprint Events

Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele proved too strong to beat in the Women’s UCI Sprint racing. Winning the initial 200m Flying Start Qualifying in the Sprint Competition, set a time of 11.477 against her closest rival, GB’s Sophie Capewell with a 11.786.

Degrendele went on the reach the finals against Capewell, with a convincing two heat victory.

Degrendele’s strenght also proved too powerful in both heats of the Keirin, winning easily against all her rivals.

2015 BRITISH CYCLING NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE RESULTS ROUND-UP

Results from day one of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Laura Trott and Andy Tennant took the individual pursuit titles, Katy Marchant won gold in the women’s sprint, Matt Crampton took gold in the men’s keirin, Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott (pilot) took the para-cycling time trial BVI title and an inspirational Kadeena Cox won her first national para-cycling time trial title (C1-5).

Day 1 Afternoon Session

Women’s Sprint 200m Flying Lap

Defending Champion Jessica Varnish starts her Sprint Jersey with the second fastest 200m Flying Lap whilst Katy Marchant leads the way with a 11.030. Up-coming Victoria Williamson sets a 11.270 behind former Double World Champion Becky James at 11.294.

Neah Evans takes an impressive first heat against Katy Marchant.
Jessica Varnish takes heat two against Lauren Quenby
Victoria Williamson takes heat three against Robyn Stewart
Ellie Coster takes heat four against Becky James
Rachel James takes heat five against Eleanor Richardson
Anna Newton takes heat six against Sophie Capewell

Katy Marchant re-joins the event the harder way, through the repechage.
Eleanor Richardson also re-joins the event through the repechage heat two.

The biggest upset of the afternoon was defending Sprint Champion Jessica Varnish losing out to Katy Marchant in the quarter finals.

Men’s 4000m Pursuit Qualifying

Andrew Tennant (Team WIGGINS) qualifies quickest in the final heat of the 4000m IP setting a time of 4.23.908, beating Germain Burton 100% ME by almost a second. Team mate Jon Dibben qualifies third with Mathew Gibson fourth.

Defending Women’s 3000m IP Champion Katie Archibald (Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l) qualifies quickest in the final heat for Gold play-off in a time of 3.31.327. Laura Trott set the bench mark in the previous heat taking three seconds off Archibald’s Team Mate Ciara Horne, whom had led at that point. Joanna Rowsell Shand will join them for the bronze medal playoff later this evening.

The second podium of the event before breaking for the evening session was the Mixed Para Cycling BVI Standing Start 1000m Time Trial Category.

World Champions Sophie Thornhill and her pilot Helen Scott, both Performance Cycle Coaching collected the Gold Medal to become the new National Champions. Setting a factored time of 1.00.265. Both girls had given it all they had to clinch the title, afterwards they lay on the floor giggling with joy!

Silver Medal went to World Champions Neil Fachie and his pilot Peter Mitchell, both Black Line, setting a factored time of 1.02.631.

Bronze Medal went to Laura Cluxton, Road And Road Cycles and her pilot Lyndsay Carson, Team Thompson Cycles with a factored time of 1.07.710

Timing his effort to perfection, Andrew Tennant, Team WIGGINS took the Men’s National 4000m Pursuit Title. Leading the race for Gold through most of the session, Germain Burton, 100% ME looked like he was going to pull the title out of the bag, but Tennant showed his experience, kept his nerve, and turned the gas up the closing laps to become the new National Champion.

Matt had sat in the middle of the pack on the approach to the final lap and went around the outside to clinch the title from Oliva and Thomas Rotherham. Jason Kenny took fourth, Matt Rotherham fifth and Jon Mitchell sixth.

The Keirin had got off to a good start for Matt Crampton winning the first heat of the day. He then went on to win the semis too.

A huge crash in the second heat of the first round, saw four riders flying through the air bringing their Championship dreams to an end. Luckily they all got up from the track.

Katy Marchant claims her first National Sprint Title. Winning the European Title earlier on this year has build on that success, beating former double World Champion Becky James, Abergavenny RC in both rounds.

Results from day four of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Jess Varnish’s perfect week continued as she and Dannielle Khan successfully defended their team sprint title, Laura Trott took victory in the women’s scratch, Callum Skinner made it three titles in three days with his keirin win and Mark Stewart won the points race title. Lewis Oliva also took a dramatic tumble in the semi final of the Men’s Sprint against Matt Crampton, Matt did amazingly well to stay upright.

British Cycling Sprint Championships presented by FIAT – Men

Gold: Callum Skinner (The Rigmar Racers)

Silver: Matthew Crampton

Bronze: Philip Hindes (Sprint-Team)

Women’s Team Sprint

Gold: West Midlands (Dannielle Khan and Jessica Varnish) 33.969

Silver: North West A (Katy Marchant and Victoria Williamson) 34.142

Bronze: North West B (Rachel James and Helen Scott) 34.998

Women’s Scratch

Gold: Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda)

Silver: Emily Kay (Team USN)

Bronze: Danielle King (Wiggle Honda)

Men’s Points

Gold: Mark Stewart (Spokes RT)

Silver: Mark Christian (Team Raleigh-GAC)

Bronze: Jonathan Mould (NFTO Pro Cycling)

The championships conclude on Sunday 28 September. Tickets are available on the door at the National Cycling Centre. Competition starts at 10:30am with the women’s keirin, men’s team sprint, women’s points race and men’s scratch race titles being decided.

Will they – won’t they, the discussion has been ongoing for a while now about the value of using on-bike cameras during road racing. The UCI have been contradicting themselves for a while, and more recently Brian Cookson (UCI President) has hinted that they may be allowed in the future. With the release of this footage there is speculation that the UCI may have acknowledged the merits of filming from within the peloton. There isn’t any clarification yet that I can find, but just the existence of this film suggests that the UCI might roll it out.

The footage is from the Tour of California on stage 1 as John Degenklob and his team sprint for the finish only to be pipped at the post by Mark Cavendish. You can’t deny it’s thrilling to watch – maybe ‘Sprint Cam’ will be coming to a bike race near you soon!

St Andrews Day 2013 and the much awaited Revolution Series rolled back into Glasgow. Would racing to a home crowd give the Scots some extra firepower? Given the depth of talent on the start sheet, a fiercely fought battle was guaranteed.

Both the afternoon and evening sessions started with a sombre and respectful minutes silence following Friday night’s tragic helicopter crash in Glasgow.

With the temperature inside the velodrome definitely on the warm side, the afternoon session got underway with both men’s and women’s UCI Sprint Qualifiers. Dani Khan (GB) once again showed she meant business. Setting a time of 11.604 in the women’s 200m time trial. Seeding her in third and comfortably taking her through to the Quarter Finals, where she won her heat against Helen Scott (GB). In the men’s 200m time trial, Callum Skinner (Scotland) topped the seeding with a 10.346. Up against Matt Rotherham (GB) in the Quarter Finals, Skinner showed his dominance winning the heat.

The UCI Points Races threatened to be savage and they certainly lived up to the hype. In the men’s 40km points race Jake Ragan (GB) shone brightly. Lapping the field twice and finishing with 49 points. A truly gritty performance. However, Kalz (Rudy Project RT), Stroetinga (Telegraph Allstars) and McCallum (Rapha Condor JLT) weren’t giving up easily and fought till the end for all available points [finishing with 45, 41, 36 points respectively].

The women’s 25km points race was just as thrilling. With Ciara Horne (Team USN), Eileen Roe (Scotland) and Nina Kessler (Boels-Dolmans) taking a lap early on. A few sprints later and Amy Hill (Team USN) pinged off the front taking a lap, placing her at the top of the standings going into the final stages of the race. With one sprint to go Kessler, Roe and Horne took another lap, scooping up more points [finishing with 54, 52, 51 points respectively].

Khan and Scott once again showed their good form in the 1st round of the women’s UCI Keirin. Both successfully going through to the final. In the men’s round John Paul, Callum Skinner and Chris Pritchard (all Scotland) qualified for the final. Leaving Matt Rotherham (GB) and Kenny Ayre (Scotland) to contest the minor final with Thiele and Kanter (both Germany).

The final event of the afternoon session was the Elite Championship Flying Lap. Ross Edgar (Rouleur) set the fastest time 13.836, with Nico Hesslich (Rudy Project RT) 2nd in a time of 13.850. Chris Latham (WD40) rounding up the top 3 with 14.040.

During the break between afternoon and evening sessions, Sir Chris Hoy was launching his new HOY Bikes track bike. Several cycling journos had been invited to take a burl round the track with the Big Yin on the new Fiorenzuola. I had a brief wee look at the newest black beauty, as entry level track bikes go it’s certainly competitively priced with a beautiful understated timeless style and design. Which is more than can be said for the display of sartorial elegance from many of the lycra clad journos ;)

The evening session started with the UCI Sprint Semi Finals. Both men’s and women’s events producing nail biting racing. Elis Ligtlee (Netherlands) and Dani Khan (GB) winning their heats. In the men’s Semi Finals Callum Skinner (Scotland) and Robert Kanter (Germany) won their heats.

In the women’s UCI Sprint Minor Final, Rosie Blount (GB) and Helen Scott (GB) snapped up the top two spaces with Jenny Davis (City of Edinburgh) taking 4th. Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) just outgunned Chris Pritchard (Scotland) and Matt Rotherham (GB) to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the men’s UCI Sprint Minor Final in a time of 11.206.

In a thrilling Final, between the excellently matched Khan and Ligtlee, it was not to be Khans day. The Dutch rider taking the win. In the men’s Final the showdown between Skinner and Kanter had the Glasgow audience on their feet roaring support for their home boy, Skinner. And he didn’t disappoint, snatching the win from Kanter in a time of 10.975.

For me one of the most exciting parts of the programme are the Future Stars races. This is such a valuable platform for the development and progression of young talent.

In the Girls 6 Lap Dash, Sophie Capewell (HMT-Sportscover) continued her good form from round 1, finishing 1st. Lucy Harper and Emily Haycox (both Rouleur) finishing in 2nd and 3rd – Not bad placing from Emily since she has been battling with ill health and is due to have her pesky tonsils out this week, hopefully she can return to the top of the table after she recovers fully. In the Boys 6 Lap Dash, it was ‘all the J’s’ with Joe Holt (Team USN) taking the win, Joe Truman (Rapha Condor JLT) finishing 2nd and Scotland’s Jack Carlin (Rudy Project RT) rounding up the top 3.

The women’s UCI Keirin Minor Final gave the crowds plenty to shout about with two Scottish riders and a GB rider doing battle for places. In the end it was Scot Jenny Davis (City of Edinburgh) who placed 1st. Rosie Blount (GB) a close 2nd with Ellie Richardson (Scotland) in 3rd. Matt Rotherham (GB) and Kenny Ayre (Scotland) finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the men’s UCI Keirin Minor Final.

A 4th and 6th place for Khan and Scott in the women’s UCI Keirin Final concluded a really good day and night’s racing for the talented GB ladies. Scotland once again showed well with a 3rd place for Skinner and a 5th for Pritchard in the men’s UCI Keirin Final.

The SWWRS Race 2 went off with a bang, or a metaphorical bang of speed if you like. There was no messing around today!

The race was the first crit in the series, held in the sunshine at Merryfield Airfield near Ilton; it’s a cracking little 5km circuit and there’s not a hill in sight, but the wind up there does plenty to make for an interesting race. We had a good turn out with 17 riders signing on from far and wide, with a bit of team representation from VC St Raphael and Exeter Wheelers, both with four riders. The race was 40 mins plus lap, which worked out as 6 laps at an average speed of 35 km/h. And have I mentioned- the sun was out (intermittently)!

17 of us rolling out from the start- Katie Curtis (far right) is not hanging around.

So there we were riding like bats out of hell when what should happen- the lead girls took the wrong turn! I hate to say it, but you know…I told you so! Everything calmed down a bit while everyone got back together, but that didn’t last long. Soon enough the attacks started going off the front, with the VC St Raphael riders invariably involved. There was also a strong showing from Vittoria Bossi (Zippi’s Ladies) , Katie Curtis, Adele Martin (Hope Factory) and Louise Benn (Exeter Wheelers).

Jenny Hudson and Katie Curtis on the attack.

However whilst some of these attacks looked like they could be trouble, none of them stuck for more than a lap, with various people doing the work to chase them down. By our 4th or 5th lap Ayse Vahiboglu (Exeter Wheelers) was driving the pace up and stringing out the field. This stopped the attacks going for a short while, which was a nice relief. The field was now getting pretty twitchy and nervous coming into the bell lap.

In the final lap Marianne Britten (VC St Raphael) went on the attack, with Katie Curtis bridging across to her about a third of the way round. These girls looked for all the world like they might stay away- gaining 200m or so on the main field. However there seemed to be enough people in the group who wanted it to come down to a sprint. With about half a lap to go the main field started to put the hammer down, and with about 400m to go and going into the final corner a last ditched push from Claire Elworthy (Exeter Wheelers) all but closed the gap.

By this point the sprinters were all moving up the group, myself included. The sprint started straight out of the final corner, with about 250m to the line. I could pretend I knew what happened, but I wont! All I know is Adele Martin came past at some point, and there a was a bunch of four just behind me so I had to keep the foot down!

So there we have it, the 2nd race of the series finished with Adele Martin (Hope Factory) taking the line honours, myself (Elena Bremer – Exeter Wheelers) in 2nd and Laura Clode (VC St Raphael) in 3rd.